We never got a chance to see if there was more than meets the eye with Transformers Universe; Jagex and Hasbro shut down the free-to-play MMO today while it was still in beta. The move isn't entirely unexpected, as it may have been foreshadowed by developer layoffs last month.

There will be a maintenance period during which Transformers Universe will remain alive, but the servers will be permanently shut down on January 31, 2015. By then, all players that purchased anything from the game (such as founder packs or relic bundles) will be refunded their money. Jagex has already pushed out an update that prevents any further purchases or creation of new accounts.

As for Jagex, the UK-based developer it turning its attention to its own IPs, such as the long-running Runescape. Predictably, this isn't the end of Transformers in the gaming space; Hasbro intends to pursue other videogame options for its Autobots and Decepticons.